The first houseboat in the Arctic appeared on Lake Lumbolka near Monchegorsk in the Murmansk Region. It is a floating house with a motor that can be lived in all year round. According to Alexander Polenkov, Head of Business and Investment at the Monchegorsk Development Agency, this is the first example of a houseboat in the Arctic, which should pave the way for a new tourism destination. Monchegorsk has already developed an investment lot named 'Ozerny Krai', which involves launching three more such units. Each will have its own power, heating and water supply, an outdoor seating area on the foredeck and a stateroom. The cost of the project is estimated at RUB 36.5 mn.

The idea of floating houses gained popularity in Europe, the United States and Canada, and then over the past few years has begun to gradually take over the middle belt of Russia. A houseboat consists of a floating base and a superstructure. It has the engine, fuel tanks and utilities underneath, and the superstructure is like a small house. Usually, it is erected by frame technology, and its filling depends entirely on the wishes of the customer. You can build yourself a small one-bedroom cabin, a full-fledged summer house or an exclusive marine-grade self-propelled palace. According to the president of Houseboat.ru company Alexander Klimchuk, the cost of 1 sq m of an average houseboat in Russia is comparable to the price in a new building on the outskirts of Moscow.



There are nuances. In addition to spending on the vessel itself, a houseboat owner should consider the costs of unit maintenance, parking, refuelling and septic tank pump-out. Usually, the dacha ships are equipped with a desalination plant and an autonomous electric generator, which provide a certain autonomy for the watercraft. To operate such a home, you must have a license of the appropriate class. It is necessary to lay down the costs of operation: according to the company's data, the average maintenance of a houseboat will cost an average of RUB 30–40 thousand per month. However, it should be taken into account that part of the cost is for renting space at the berth and winter storage.

Most orders of houseboats are made by companies and individuals intending to rent them out. And this is not surprising: for Arctic entrepreneurs, houseboats are an interesting offer, because they are mobile, highly autonomous and allow to make good use of hundreds of lakes and rivers of the Polar region. It is not a secret that it is quite difficult to carry out capital construction in wild and therefore beautiful places—remoteness from large cities, heavy logistics and lack of qualified personnel have an impact. Just the cost of clearing the area from the forest will cost a hefty penny and a likely vendetta from the local forestry department. A houseboat removes all of the above problems, requiring only the construction of a dock and access road.



On the other hand, there is the issue of operating the ship in winter time. Houseboat owners note that the best solution is to store an overwater summerhouse in dry storage. Ice can damage the ship's hull, deforming or tearing it altogether. As a solution it is suggested to use special buoys or devices—deicers. They can be used to create a wormhole in which the houseboat will be wintered. However, this will lead to significant energy consumption, and whether the devices designed for much milder winters will be able to cope with the harsh Arctic cold remains a mystery. There is also the question of thermal insulation of the structure. Most houseboats are built according to technologies developed in the West—in Denmark, Holland, Germany, etc. The climate there is considerably milder than in Murmansk, which makes it possible to predict higher energy consumption in winter in houses not adapted to the North.

However, the Monchegorsk Development Agency is optimistic about the future. In early July 2024, it was announced that construction of a large domestic houseboat shipyard would begin. According to it, the planned volume of investments will amount to RUB 1.5 bn, which will make it possible to produce 400 vessels for the Russian market in 3–4 years. The project is implemented by Housebot, which is currently the only company in the world that manufactures houseboats designed for freezing into ice and winter operation on the water. For the Arctic, this is a critical component that can provide sustainable demand for products. Perhaps additional thermal insulation in the floating house will come up next. According to the company's management, they are not going to limit themselves to houses, but intend to produce floating hotels and restaurants. We just have to wait for icebreaker-class houseboats to appear, and tourism in the Arctic will become more accessible than ever.

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